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Your Bubbie Would Follow Me...

Welcome to the 'Hood, RickyBobby 

2/20/2013

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Burger
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Tots
I held off on writing this because I had yet to consume their infamous burger.

I have now had their infamous burger.

Despite my disappointment at the lack of, "Very Thin Pancakes" on the menu, RickyBobby - the newest project of the former Broken Record chefs James Moisey and Shane LaValley - had plenty of dishes that peaked my interest. Highlights included the beet salad with grapefruit and housemade "ranch," laden with heaps of dill, the lobster mac and cheese, the chicken parm sandwich, and a personal favorite: the lasagna layered with no shortage of braised short rib.
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Beet and Grapefruit Salad, House Ranch
Of course, let's not forget the staples: RickyBobby's burger and tots. 

Not just any ol' burger, mind you, but a double patty with bacon ground into the meat itself and topped with good old fashioned American cheese. So unassuming, so simple, so seemingly incongruous; but it just plain worked. And not just any ol' tots, but sweet potato tots with perfectly crisp exteriors and soft, fluffy interiors, allowing them to retain their unadulterated natural sweetness.  

RickyBobby surprised me in a way that very few restaurants have. Though many places offer "comfort food," I rarely feel comforted. The fare too fussy, the ambiance too un-natural, the feeling that I am indeed out to eat.

Perhaps it's because it is in my neighborhood, and the familiar faces truly make me feel welcome.
Perhaps it's because the waiters and chefs are so down to earth and probably live right around the corner.  Perhaps it's because the food simply comes with no frills and solid execution. 
Perhaps it's all of the above.

Welcome to the Lower Haight, RickyBobby - we've been waiting for you.

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Nosh on,
Josh
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How a P-Nut Made Our Dinner

2/8/2013

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I could easily draw you in to our latest dinner at State Bird Provisions with sexy pictures of a few stand-out dishes from the meal:
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Toasted Nori Cracker, Hamachi, Avocado
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Pork Belly, Winter Citrus
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Coconut Cake, Ginger Cream
I could write on for days praising that toasted nori cracker, describing just how delicately the pork belly dissolved in my mouth and married perfectly with the accompanying winter citrus, or dreaming of the moist, tender coconut cake topped with an intense ginger cream. 

However, in order to truly comprehend what made our experience so tremendously special, these three photographs might offer slightly better insight: 
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P-Nut
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Kelvin
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Katie
Little is the need for me to divulge how stellar the food consistently tastes, nor to reiterate the accolades and acclaim. But many restaurants have delicious, inventive food: what makes State Bird Provisions so special?  

In short: P-Nut, Kelvin, Katie, Rum and Eleanor - just to name a few.

Chef and owner Stuart Brioza explained to us that one of the most amazing and rewarding aspects of his job is working with such extraordinarily talented chefs who simultaneously create a kitchen that is, "Loose without being sloppy."

Sitting at the chef's counter certainly has its benefits - the luxury of watching plates created from start to finish, elegantly crafted and seamlessly moved across the pass: creativity at its finest. Yet despite the dozens of covers and countless, meticulous dim-sum-style dishes served on any given night, each and every chef took the time to laugh, talk, joke, smile, banter, and just be regular people with us. 

All without breaking a sweat.

All while doing their jobs better than almost everyone else around the country.  

Throughout our meal, we chatted mostly with P-Nut who cooked directly across from our seats. During the stints when our mouths weren't filled with the deliciousness she placed before us, we had the pleasure of discovering a bit more about her - from her background and goals as a chef to her plans for the next few days (we even found out her real name!). We talked to Kelvin as he whipped up ricotta dumplings and fry-bread with burrata, Eleanor as she crossed the kitchen for ingredients, Katie while she sliced and diced behind the counter, and Rum while she prepped and delivered desserts. Amiable, humble, and willing to spare time as if they didn't have a demanding job awaiting them.

But they did have a demanding job awaiting them. 

About what did we chat? Everything and nothing: it was all just so normal, so natural, so genuinely real.

By virtue of the people themselves, the staff at State Bird Provisions provides more than some basic, "sense of place" touted by other establishments: there is simply more to it than that. It is above and beyond hospitality. It is these very specific people, these individual personalities, that left us both physically and emotionally full. 

Wanting to grab a beer with them sometime - maybe catch a movie or just hang out in the park. 

Leaving, we didn't merely exit a restaurant; instead, we bid adieu to our dear friends who invited us over that evening for dinner.

Or at least that's how it felt.
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P-Nut
Nosh on,
Josh
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Biergarten Brings Burgers

2/7/2013

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Parker Vaughan was simply flipping patties at the company picnic when the employees decided to give it a whirl back at work. 

Now, Biergarten brings burgers beside beer and brats on Wednesdays, and Thursdays if they don't sell out. For $12, you can enjoy a 100% grass fed, half-pound Prather Ranch patty with toppings that vary weekly. Some of the most recent combinations have included caper aioli, bacon, caramelized onions, house pickles and little gems, as well as feta aioli, caramelized fennel and pickled shallots.

This week's offering included caramelized onions, bacon, white cheddar, house pickles, greens and truffle aioli.  Sure, you could easily opt for a more German fleisch, but the gargantuan sandwich was the perfect accompaniment to my liter of dunkel: from the soft, toasty bun to the crunchy pickles and hearty hunk of meat, hump day just got a whole lot better.
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Warm and Cozy: Outdoors at Ragazza

2/6/2013

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Sharon Adriana - Owner and Chef: Ragazza
Since moving from Michigan, my blood has certainly thinned quite a bit. This time two years ago, I would have killed for evenings in the low 50°Fs. 

Yet while we are fortunate enough to enjoy the smallest deviation in temperature of any city in the U.S., we're still a bunch of wusses. Our weather is oh-so close to being the ideal setting for that perfect al fresco dining experience year round, but those chilly evenings quickly turn unbearably bitter cold when the time comes to choose our seats, putting a damper in our best laid plans. Heat lamps attempt to quell our woes, but the fiery hot waves either burn our faces or never truly keep our whole bodies comfortable. 

Ragazza, the intimate, 38-seat Italian restaurant on Divisadero has found the perfect solution. Walk through the back, up the stairs and onto the expansive patio and behold: 

The Heated Gazebo. 

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This "heat umbrella" uses radiant heat to warm the patio space in its entirety, encasing you in a bubble of cozy. The clear paneling allows you to enjoy the ambiance of the outdoors, and simultaneously the warmth that the indoors would normally afford. 

All the while, enjoying some of the most phenomenal pizza, pasta and dessert this side of the Mississippi (and for the love of anything, do NOT miss the baked rigatoni with butternut squash, sage, fontina, brown butter and amaretti).   

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Amatriciana - Tomato, Olli Pancetta, Chilies, Pecorino, Oregano & an Egg
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Baked Rigatoni w/ Butternut Squash, Sage, Fontina, Brown Butter & Amaretti
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Meyer Lemon Panna Cotta w/ Blackberries
Perfect for special small gatherings or a typical evening out, the patio is first come, first served, second to none. 

Nosh on,
Josh

Ragazza
311 DIVISADERO STREET
(BETWEEN PAGE AND OAK)
SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94117

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    Writer, educator, and positive peer-pressurer. 

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